Nomalies? Nuhuh
by DreamerMatrix
Summary: S2 sometime. R 'n' R, I suck at summaries
1. Introducing the X1s

DISCLAIMER: Dark Angel and its characters are the property of James Cameron, Fox Network (who should *not* have cancelled it) and anyone else involved in the copyright of the show. Suing me would be a waste of time, as a) I have no money and b) I am making no money from this.  
  
The eleven X1s featured are, as far as I know, my creations.  
  
A/N: The story starts in chapter 2. This is an introduction to my X1s, in designation order. I'd recommend you reading it, so you don't get confused. btw, this is my first DA fic, so go easy on me.  
  
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Designation: X1-090  
  
Squad: Delta  
  
Name: Mack  
  
Rank: Lieutenant  
  
Gender: Male  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': cheetah, dolphin, human, whale  
  
Appearance: A stocky soldier, 5' 7" tall, and nearly the same across the shoulders. He weighs 160lbs, slightly less trim than his younger X1 siblings. His mousy brown hair falls down his neck, covering the barcode there, but nothing other than sunglasses can cover his cat-like golden green eyes. His clothing is practical: black trainers, grey combat trousers and a grey shirt- all good for hiding in the shadows.  
  
Personality: Born leader, but second in command of the eleven (CO of his squad of 5), so tends to be a bit grumpy around younger brother Ice. Is a talented tactician, and has been known as something of a poet.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: Tactical warfare (like Brain).  
  
Weapons: None   
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all his sibs. Rides a 70cc Ninja.  
  
Designation: X1-091  
  
Squad: Delta  
  
Name: Slim  
  
Rank: Sergeant  
  
Gender: Male  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': cheetah, dolphin, human, wolf  
  
Appearance: Lanky, about 6' 4" and 140lbs. His hair is still regulation buzz-cut, a timberwolf grey with golden highlights, and his eyes are lupine brown. Unlike his squad CO, his clothes are bright: white trainers, blue jeans, and a white shirt, the collar of which covers his bar code.  
  
Personality: Extroverted and cocky, a lot like Alec. Will steal anything for a quick buck, and isn't afraid of people knowing he's transgenic.   
  
Training: Standard.  
  
Weapons: machete, sheathed horizontally at his waist  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all his sibs.   
  
Designation: X1-105  
  
Squad: Delta  
  
Name: Dynamite  
  
Rank: Corporal  
  
Gender: Female  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': adder, dolphin, human, wolf  
  
Appearance: Lara Croft-esque. Dark hair, falling to her waist, not tied back in order to hide her bar code. Baby blue eyes which never seem to blink. Curves in all the right places. An assassin in a lady's clothing, she prefers dresses to the more practical gear of her sibs.  
  
Personality: A man eater, outgoing and deadly. When she's in heat, she's even deadlier. She's not as cold-blooded as other Xs, but can be ruthless if needs must.   
  
Training: Standard. Plus: Demolition and bomb disposal.  
  
Weapons: none. does carry plastic explosives sometimes.  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all her sibs. Drives an old pick-up truck.  
  
Designation: X1-134  
  
Squad: Delta  
  
Name: Finn  
  
Rank: Corporal  
  
Gender: Male  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': cheetah, dolphin, human, wolf  
  
Appearance: Clone of Slim. Lanky, about 6' 4" and 140lbs. His hair is still regulation buzz-cut, a timberwolf grey with golden highlights, and his eyes are lupine brown. His clothing is a lot like Mack's, dark and practical.  
  
Personality: Introverted. Being in the same squad as his clone, or the person he was cloned from, jarred his natural extroversion. He prefers shadow to light, and takes pains to hide his transgenic roots wherever possible.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: Extra field med.  
  
Weapons: Syringes, surgical knives, whatever's in the first aid kit.  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all his sibs.  
  
Designation: X1-168  
  
Squad: Delta  
  
Name: Data  
  
Rank: Corporal  
  
Gender: Female  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': cheetah, dolphin, human, shark  
  
Appearance: Tomboyish. Her blonde hair is cut in a bob, to hide her bar code, but it is evident that she'd prefer it to be the buzz-cut of her youth. At 5' 4", she is the shortest of the eleven, and also the lightest, being only 90lbs. Her eyes, like Mack's, reveal her roots, so she covers them with sunglasses, or with coloured dye. Her clothes are mainly black leather, with the occassional cotton top thrown in.  
  
Personality: quiet, submissive. As youngest of her squad, she daren't give orders, even to her younger counterparts in Romeo squad.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: Extra sniper and tactical warfare  
  
Weapons: sling shot, sniper rifle.  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all her sibs.  
  
Designation: X1-191  
  
Squad: Romeo  
  
Name: Fred  
  
Rank: Corporal  
  
Gender: Female  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': wolf, dolphin, human, shark  
  
Appearance: 5' 11" tall, 140lbs in weight. Her shoulder length hair is naturally black, but she dyed it blonde soon after Manticore collapsed. Her eyes are hazel coloured by nature. Her clothing is a mixture of light and dark, but still practical for shadow walking.  
  
Personality: quiet but confident. Highest ranking corporal in Romeo squad. Not afraid to use her training if some Ordinary pisses her off.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: some NOC training  
  
Weapons: none  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all her sibs. Oldest of three female triplets in Romeo squad.  
  
Designation: X1-192  
  
Squad: Romeo  
  
Name: Danni  
  
Rank: Corporal  
  
Gender: Female  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': wolf, dolphin, human, shark  
  
Appearance: 5' 11" tall, 140lbs in weight. Her shoulder length hair is naturally black, her eyes are hazel coloured by nature. Her clothing is a mixture of light and dark, but still practical for shadow walking, like her sisters'.  
  
Personality: boisterous and occassionally attention seeking. Can be annoyingly childish.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: some NOC training  
  
Weapons: two throwing knives  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all her sibs. Middle of three female triplets in Romeo squad.  
  
Designation: X1-193  
  
Squad: Romeo  
  
Name: Toni  
  
Rank: Corporal  
  
Gender: Female  
  
Age: 27  
  
'Cocktail': wolf, dolphin, human, shark  
  
Appearance: 5' 11" tall, 140lbs in weight. Her shoulder length hair is naturally black, her eyes are hazel coloured by nature. Her clothing is a mixture of light and dark, but still practical for shadow walking. She sometimes 'pulls a Dynamite' and goes all man-eater.  
  
Personality: quiet, occassionally argumentative, but mostly obedient to orders. Still adjusting to life outside of Manticore.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: some NOC training  
  
Weapons: good old-fashioned crossbow, with barbed bolts.  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all her sibs. Youngest of three female triplets in Romeo squad.  
  
Designation: X1-255  
  
Squad: Romeo  
  
Name: Cain  
  
Rank: Lieutenant  
  
Gender: Male  
  
Age: 26  
  
'Cocktail': wolf, dolphin, human, shark, cheetah, polar bear  
  
Appearance: 6' 6" tall, 190lbs in weight. Like Mack, his hair falls to shoulder length, covering the bar code there. His hair, though, is so blonde it's practically white, his eyes are a cold pale green colour. He follows Mack's lead in clothing as well, adding a black hooded top to the same outfit his Delta opposite number wears.  
  
Personality: Confident leader of Romeo squad, TIC of the eleven. Well-adjusted, intelligent, good humoured.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: some NOC training, some demolition and bomb disposal  
  
Weapons: none  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all his sibs. Oldest of twins in Romeo squad.  
  
Designation: X1-256  
  
Squad: Romeo  
  
Name: Abel  
  
Rank: Sergeant  
  
Gender: Male  
  
Age: 26  
  
'Cocktail': wolf, dolphin, human, shark, cheetah, polar bear  
  
Appearance: 6' 6" tall, 190lbs in weight. Like Slim, his hair is regulation buzz-cut, and he relies on his clothing to hide his bar code. His hair, though, like his twin's, is so blonde it's practically white, while his eyes are a warm emerald green colour. His clothing is lighter and bolder than his brother's, but he still wears gear that will hide his bar code.  
  
Personality: creative, artistic, extroverted. Also a complete pain in the ass.  
  
Training: Standard. Plus: some NOC training, some all-terrain  
  
Weapons: 3 throwing knives, 1 Sig Sauer  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all his sibs. Youngest of twins in Romeo squad.  
  
Designation: X1-294  
  
Squad: N/A  
  
Name: Ice  
  
Rank: Captain  
  
Gender: Male  
  
Age: 26  
  
'Cocktail': wolf, dolphin, human, shark, cheetah, polar bear, lizard, adder, fox, camel  
  
Appearance: 6' 10" tall, 220lbs in weight. His hair is jet black, his eyes the same emerald green as Abel's. His hair is just normal, like Logan's only Ice wears it better. His barcode is practically invisible, as he was forced through gene therapy as a two-year-old in order that his bar code could be faded, making him perfect solo ops material.  
  
Personality: Leader of the X1s. Charismatic, comfortable in all environments. Hard to anger, and a cold-blooded killer, hence his name.  
  
Training: Near enough everything going. Especially solo ops: wetwork, surveillance, the whole nine yards.  
  
Weapons: 6 throwing knives, 1 Sig Sauer, two samurai blades  
  
Other notes: Insomniac, like all his sibs. 


	2. Crashing onto the scene

DISCLAIMER: Plagiarism is the highest form of flattery. I am not making money from this fic, nor do I own the ideas behind, or the original characters of, Dark Angel. Please do not sue me. The eleven X-1s, however, are still mine. Especially Ice, 'cos he rocks.  
  
A/N: thoughts, --signal-- "speech"  
  
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They walked along in boy-girl pairs. Not couples; it was clear from the way they acted that they were more like siblings than lovers. It was also clear that ten was not their usual number. Five, maybe, they seemed to concentrate more on the others in their line than they did on their partners. However, there was also the sense that they worked as a ten too. Or as a larger group. An eleven? Maybe. Whatever it was, there was something about them that stood out to Max. Moreover, if Max noticed it, NSA Agent Ames White would notice it too. Better get Logan to ask Ascha to deal with it. Ascha had no transgenic links that Ames White was aware of.  
  
The ten of them entered Crash, where an eleventh joined up with them. Another guy, one who Alec, from behind the newcomer, believed to be an Ordinary. Alec couldn't see a bar code on the back of his neck, and signalled so to Max as she walked in. Max walked over to Alec, and watched the group. The sixth guy definitely looked more comfortable being here than the ten transgenics she'd trailed here, who kept looking around the place as if they'd never seen a bar before. She looked over them again. Three girls, identical. Clones? Max wasn't sure. Two guys, also identical. Again, she wasn't sure if they were clones or twins. Those five sat to the left of the apparent Ordinary. To his right there were two more identical guys, and this time Alec answered for her when he muttered "Those two are *definitely* clones," right in her ear. The other three, two girls and a guy, were apparently individual. The guy walked up to the bar and ordered three pitchers of beer and one of juice. One of the girls, who looked as if she ate men for breakfast, lunch and tea, came over to help him with the pitchers, while the blonde haired triplets walked over to grab some glasses. Alec was smitten by her.  
  
"Hey, need a hand with those?" Alec asked with a cheeky smile.  
  
Way to go, Alec Max thought. Get some information  
  
The blonde triplet looked at the Ordinary, who looked Alec *and* Max up and down, and nodded that both X5s could join them. Max thought of declining the offer, in typical stubborn style, but there was something about the guy that struck her as strange. She wanted to figure him out. Plus, Alec was giving her that puppy-dog-eyes look, begging her to join them in case blonde-triplet was not for him. She rolled her eyes, took her glass, and followed her smitten sibling towards the girl.  
  
The Ordinary shifted up to make room for Max, while Alec sat next to Blondie. Max spoke first, to the Ordinary.  
  
"You don't know what you've gotten yourself involved with, do you?" she asked him. He smiled infuriatingly.  
  
"I know perfectly," he answered. "I've always been good at holding my own in E and E, but these lot?" He rolled his eyes. "White would have had them with that bogus signal if it wasn't for me knocking them out."  
  
Max looked at the guy incredulously. "Are you trying to tell me that a human took out ten transgenics? That's impossible."  
  
"I agree. Which must mean..." he let Max and Alec finish the sentence "... that you're not an Ordinary."  
  
"Got it in one."  
  
"So why no bar-code? The others have them. You get yours lasered?" Alec asked, tearing his attention from his lust object momentarily.  
  
"No. I went through gene therapy when I was switched onto Solo Ops. They didn't do it to you 'cos you were older than five when you switched. My bar code is still there, but it's only about three shades darker than my skin tone."  
  
"OK," Max said, "assuming we buy your story, who the hell are you?"  
  
One of the clones, the more extroverted one, spoke up. "We're the Ones who didn't make the basement cut."  
  
"You're nomalies?"  
  
The guy who had ordered the pitchers answered. "Nope. We're the X1s Manticore took the time and effort to train. Three hundred created. Eleven passed for human, one hundred and fifty were still born, eighty-nine were dead before their second birthdays, the remaining fifty hit the basement."  
  
The 'Ordinary' continued. "We're the prototypes. The original Golden Children of the project. Mack, Slim, Dynamite, Finn, Data, Fred, Danni, Toni, Cain, Abel and myself. Ice."  
  
"How come you're the only one who acknowledges a name?" Max asked. "I still don't know who's who."  
  
"They still answer to their designations. Shot especially. For a girl who can hit a moving target at nine hundred yards, she's having a hard time adjusting to something resembling normality."  
  
"You didn't have nicknames for each other back at Manticore?" Max asked.  
  
Ice shrugged. "I was kept in solitary, not allowed to mix with others. My minder called me Ice in private, because of the way I approached my training, and the missions I was given. The others, when we hooked up after Manticore was blown, were answering to designations still."  
  
Alec stopped looking at Fred long enough to take a sip of his beer and ask another question. "So, how many of you are clones?" he said quietly. The introverted clone looked up. "Just me. I'm Slim's clone, Finn."  
  
Max smiled. "Well, that's you two and Ice sorted out."  
  
Alec nodded. "And if you think about it logically, the twins are Cain and Abel. Cain's the elder, Abel the younger."  
  
"Well, who'd have thought you had it in you, Alec," Logan said, walking up a little hesitantly as his exoskeleton played up again. "Want to introduce me to the older sibs, Max?"  
  
Max shrugged. "Alec and me were playing the guess who's who game. We had the guys down, I think."  
  
Logan nodded, and pointed discreetly to each one in turn, starting with Mack, and naming them. "Mack, Slim, Finn, Cain, Abel and Ice."  
  
Ice nodded. "Bang on. Not bad for an Ordinary."  
  
"What are the girls' names again?" Alec asked. Maybe logical saviour of the people can figure it out  
  
Slim grinned. "Dynamite, Data, Fred, Danni and Toni," he said.  
  
Logan frowned, looking at the girls. "well, the triplets are Fred, Danni and Toni in some order. Three guys' name that can also be girls' names- Fred as a shortened form of Winifred."  
  
Mack nodded approvingly. "For a guy whose tactics got him shot in the back, you sure are logical."  
  
"Thanks... I think..." Logan replied. Alec grinned at Logan's slight discomfort.  
  
"Well, I'm guessing Dynamite is man-eater lady here," Max chipped in. "She looks like Original Cindy wouldn't say no."  
  
Dynamite grinned. "Thanks. But I'm also an expert in demolition and bomb disposal. That's where I got the name from."  
  
Logan looked at Dynamite. "I've learnt that most of you aren't just pretty faces," he told her, his jaw all but hitting the floor as he did so. Alec did Max a favour and punched Logan sharply on the arm. "Hey, ow!"  
  
Alec looked at the remaining girl. "I guess that means that you're Data."  
  
Data nodded shyly, as Sketchy, OC and Herbal walked over. (A/N: Yes, I know they cut Herbal out of S2. But this is *my* fic, and he's staying)  
  
OC looked at Dynamite, just as Max knew she would. "Hey boo," she said to Max, "You want to introduce us?"  
  
Dynamite grinned. "I'm Dynamite," she introduced herself.  
  
"You can say that again, boo" OC replied.   
  
She couldn't take her eyes off Dynamite. Neither could Sketchy, who was, for once, speechless. Ice nudged Sketchy in the ribs. "Dude, you dribble in my juice, I *will* hunt you down."  
  
Sketchy shut his mouth. Herbal laughed. "All good, my friend. All good."  
  
"All the time?" Slim questioned with a grin.  
  
"Aye man."  
  
"What kinda catch phrase is that?" Toni and Danni said together. Fred would have said it, but she and Alec had started necking.  
  
"Best kind," OC replied, still looking at Dynamite. Logan looked at Alec and Fred, an eye brow raised.  
  
"She in heat?" he asked.  
  
"Nah," Data said, looking at the floor. "She's not got any cat in her. Unlike me. It's a bitch... Well, you know what I mean."  
  
Logan, Max and Herbal shared a look. None of them spoke.  
  
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Well, there we go. Chapter 1. Officially chapter Two. Enjoy. 


	3. Jam Pony Messenger!

DISCLAIMER: Plagiarism is the highest form of flattery. I am not making money from this fic, nor do I own the ideas behind, or the original characters of, Dark Angel. Please do not sue me. The eleven X-1s, however, are still mine. Especially Ice, 'cos he rocks.  
  
A/N: thoughts, --signal-- "speech"  
  
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The eleven of them were looking for work. The night before, they'd been recommended trying Jam Pony, where both Max and Alec worked. So in true fashion, they all showed up together. Ice led, followed in pairs by the others, all eleven leading bikes. Normal took one look at them, and was going to get Alec to throw them out when the X5 introduced Ice as his cousin. That changed his opinion immediately.  
  
"Golden Boy's cousin? Why didn't you say?" Normal quipped. Ice looked kinda modest.  
  
"I was raised to play on my own name, sir, not on others," he replied.  
  
"Sir?" Normal questioned. Ice shrugged.  
  
"Term of respect," he offered.  
  
"What about your followers?" Normal asked. "I suppose they all want jobs too?"  
  
Dynamite walked up besides Ice. Normal gulped.  
  
"I can get Sketchy to stop talking..." she told Normal, her best coy smile on her face.  
  
Normal merely grabbed a handful of application forms and pushed them into Ice's arms, before running to hide in his office with a stiff double. Alec grinned.  
  
"Nice move," he said to Dynamite, before going to talk to Fred.  
  
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It was Mack who took the finished forms into Normal's office, and it was Mack who handed out messenger passes to the X1s. "On the pay roll now," he muttered.  
  
Ice caught and distributed parcels as Normal threw them out. The bespectacled Ordinary was taking care not to look at Dynamite as he threw the parcels. "I want signatures! Which means you get 'em to sign *before* you hand over the package!" Normal stated. "Bip bip bip!"  
  
bip bip bip? Ice thought, as he powered his way towards his first delivery. Sector 5. Nice. He cycled past the queues of traffic, his brakes squealing as a sector guard looked at him. "Jam Pony messenger!" he called, holding up his pass. He heard the people behind him mutter as he got let through, and ducked his head down as a hover drone scanned over head.   
  
He managed to find the address, eventually. After pulling his bike up and down several flights of stairs in an apartment building with its lifts out. He got a signature, then placed a nice hard kick on the lift panel and pressed a button, grinning as it worked.  
  
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Meanwhile, Alec and Fred were necking in the locker area. Max looked away in disgust, and eventually, when they returned, Danni and Toni drenched the pair in cold water. "Jees, sis, get a room!" Data added. "And move off of my locker."  
  
Fred nearly choked. "Did you just give me an order?" The triplets looked shocked. Data immediately turned red, and ran off to grab another parcel.   
  
"I think that was a yes," Danni offered, before Normal came out with another "bip bip bip".  
  
Alec, Fred and the others went to work.  
  
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When Ice finally finished his last run, he felt almost fit to drop. Data looked the same, as did the others. Except for Abel. He was still running around like a rabbit on speed. Ice stuck a leg out and tripped him up, in typical younger brother style. Abel got up and pouted. Danni found some reserve of energy, jumped him and they play fought on the floor of Jam Pony. Until Ice put a stop to it, having rested long enough to work up the energy to pull them apart before Normal could come out and get another eyeful of Dynamite. "C'mon people, at ease for mercy's sake" he groaned. He felt like he'd just done a ten mile desert trek with extra weights on top of the 50lb thing he normally carried in that training. He voiced the thoughts of his X1 siblings. "I *hate* dolphin DNA"  
  
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that's it. Short chapter. But hey, Ames White is in the next one. And I *might* have to write Deck in too... 


	4. Ames

Disclaimer: DON'T SUE ME! PLEASE!   
  
Less pleady Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Dark Angel. This is the truth, 'cos if I did it wouldn't have been cancelled, y'know? What follows is a non-commercial work of fiction, set some time in S2. I dunno when, just S2.   
  
DEDICATION: This is dedicated to Vil, who loves Ames White so much it's not even funny. Her words, not mine.   
  
Other notes: M/L shipper stuff will occur at some point. And thanks for the spelling correction of Asha.   
  
Screen note: AUTHOR rolls eyes  
  
A/N: thoughts "speech" --signal--  
  
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NSA Agent Ames White was annoyed. He was waxing homicidal, only since he wasn't out in the field he couldn't pin it on the transgenics. But Otto was aware of his boss' bad mood, and had fled down the corridor when he'd seen the Familiar enter that morning. Not that Otto knew Ames was a Familiar. Just that he was extremely pissed off.  
  
The reason? Otto had gotten them lost when they were on the trail of 452. By the time they got back on track, the X5 had done her usual disappearing trick. If there was such thing as a luck gene, then Sandemann had pumped 452 full of it. And that just served to annoy Ames even more. That his father, a genetically superior human being, would waste his time creating these freaks. As if they would ever be accepted. Humans feared what they couldn't understand, and hated what they feared.  
  
The thought brought a wry smile to Ames' face. One which was wiped off when he saw the eleven files on his desk, each one labeled with a single designation in Otto's barely legible writing. Eleven files? What the hell was so special about these freaks that they had separate files? Ames sat down and went over the files. The first one he picked up was labeled X1-294. Ames thought about wringing Otto's neck. He knew the X1s were a bunch of 'nomalies', the freaks that even the freaks cast out. The freaks considered to be of no worth, other than as tales for scaring younger series into behaving themselves. The file of an X1 was worthless.  
  
Ames opened the file up. The first page was a picture, the most recent. Ames' eyes almost widened in shock. Almost. The male freak in front of him was not a nomaly. He had to be the most human looking of his series. He was wearing civilian clothing, a rarity for Manticore soldiers. It looked like he'd been sharing a joke with Lydecker, who was also in the picture. The two looked like father and son, as if the human DNA in 294 had come from the Colonel. That the freak had a sense of humour was apparent, that he was also a cold blooded killer showed only to those who took the time to look into his eyes, which chilled Ames to the bone, even with the spark of humour there.  
  
Ames flipped the page, and looked at the freaks DNA work up. Not as perfect as 452's, but 294 was obviously no slackly put together freak. He had been well designed. Still a lot of Junk DNA in there, but for an X1 he was in good shape. Ames tried to cast his mind back to when he was a child, to when he'd been overhearing things his father talked about on the phone. He was certain that he'd never heard tell of X1s being trained. But then, his father was also conclave. Even if he was going senile, he must still have been aware that Ames, at five years old, knew the basic rules of the religious cults. Especially when it came to genetic testing.  
  
Now there was an idea. Having perused the file, Ames had seen no notes about 294's resistance to pathogens. What were the chances of an X1 having the necessary genes to combat the snake's blood? 294 had run the gauntlet of survival so far, and was winning. But until now, he'd not been hit by the big guns. Let's see how he handles himself in that kind of situation Ames thought to himself. Surely he won't be as hard as 452  
  
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It was a week after they'd first met, and Ice had invited Max, Logan and the crew to dinner. Logan insisted on cooking, to which Dynamite quipped "You do know what a transgenic's appetite is like, right?"  
  
Logan had glanced at Max with a smile, and gave a brisk "Affirmative," which coming from Logan cracked the transgenics up. Original Cindy, Herbal and Sketchy rolled in perfectly on time, the eleven X1s having shacked up outside of Terminal City. "Too obvious," Mack told the Ordinaries. "Plus, when the girls get in heat, it could be even more dangerous for the T's, D's and H's."  
  
"T's, D's and H's?" Sketchy asked, non-plussed  
  
"Toms, Dicks and Harries," Danni supplied, as there was a knock at the door. Ice answered it, and to his surprise found Normal on the doorstep. He invited his boss in, and went in search of Data, who had suddenly, and uncharacteristically, run off in a fit of laughter. He knew that Data wasn't in heat; she wouldn't go with an X1, but Herbal, Sketchy, Logan and perhaps even Alec, if he could disconnect his tongue from Fred's long enough, wouldn't have been safe. Even though the workups said otherwise, Ice swore that Data had black widow *and* preying mantis DNA in her cocktail. Slim had assigned himself as her minder when she was in heat. He was the only one who would hit her hard enough to keep her out cold long enough to tie her up. In a completely non-kinky way.   
  
Ice stopped that train of thought dead, thanking, for the first and last time, a string of trips to Psy-Ops, which had eventually taught him the trick to wrapping the Psis around his little finger. He found Data, hopeless with laughter and the shakes, on the stairs.  
  
The shakes, they were dangerous. Ice got them himself, very rarely. Apparently, his neural system wasn't as crazy as Data's, or Mack's, or Slim's, or Finn's. The clone and clonee in particular suffered badly from the disorder.   
  
Ice forgot about bawling Data out for inviting Normal over; it was a nice gesture anyway, since Reagan Ronald was the most socially inadequate person Ice had ever met. Hell, Ice had met nomalies with better social lives than Normal. He rooted in Data's pockets for her pill bottle, unscrewed the cap, and forced two of the tryptophan pills down her throat. When she regained her composure, he helped her back to the dining area. Max saw the pale look of thanks on Data's face, in relation to Ice, and smiled to herself. At least these transgenics were in capable hands. Eleven less for her to worry about.  
  
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Ames White was in a good mood. For once. Otto had managed to find a location for all eleven X1s he'd dumped in White's desk earlier in the week. They were all in the same place. In a warehouse, one of those redesigned places, with separate bedrooms but a communal eating area. A former university Halls of Residence. Smart move. He'd expected an address in Terminal City. That was where the freaks usually gathered. But not smart enough. Ames wanted a little chat with these X1's. 294 in particular...  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Well there we go. I was just thinking... how do I write M/L ship stuff into this? They can't touch! Hmmm... maybe Finn can help out... 


	5. Capture

DISCLAIMER: i) this is a non-commercial venture, aiming to entertain those who choose to read it.  
  
ii) I do not own, part-own, or rent any part of Dark Angel. Not even a DVD or Video. Just a reasonable memory.  
  
iii) I think I've managed to put a different disclaimer at the top of each page so far. Take me to court, I will run verbal rings around you! Muahahaha... erm, yeah.... but it's not worth the lawyers' fees, honest.  
  
A/N: thoughts "speech" --signals--  
  
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Ice's head turned towards the door as Data served up desert. The mere movement had the other X1s on edge, and that put Alec and Max on edge too. Which put Logan and OC on edge too.  
  
"Sewers. Now."  
  
Ice caught the sniper rifle Data threw him and loaded it. Normal looked around as if wondering what was going on. Herbal followed Logan, OC, Max and the others as Fred, holding hands with Alec, led the way to the sewers. Data grabbed Sketchy and brought up the rear, leaving Ice with his rifle trained on the door.   
  
"Boss, you too. Trust me. Tell Ma... No, tell Cain RVP 6, every hour on the hour from..." Ice looked at his watch, "starting three hours from now. Got that?"  
  
Normal ran off without answering Ice's question. The 26-year-old shrugged to himself as someone kicked the front door in.  
  
"All ya had to do was knock," Ice stated, his cold eyes fixing on the man who followed the door kicker into the room. The man looked self-assured. He looked like he was in a good mood. He looked like a shark that had just scented blood. The rifle in Ice's hands stopped him in his tracks.  
  
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Ames stopped in his tracks. He wasn't sure if it was the rifle, held so assuredly in those hands, or the cold gaze that 294 fixed on him. That it was 294 Ames was certain of. He had the same relaxed attitude as the guy in the photo with Lydecker, and the same cold eyes. The same easy confidence which made Ames want to ram his fist down the freak's throat.  
  
"Ames White, NSA," Ames said, holding his badge up for the freak to see. Ice's gaze didn't flicker. Didn't give a millimetre. Ames was impressed, but kept his face as impassive as the freak's was. "If you would put down the rifle, we can talk about why I'm here."  
  
"Or I can leave the rifle where it is and you can tell me anyway," Ice suggested, his voice irritatingly calm for a man who now had six guns pointed at him. The transgenic looked at the agents who now had him surrounded left, right and centre. But not behind. Ice didn't move. That fast blurry thing was likely to get him shot. Slow and steady won the race. Ice took one hand from the rifle and pulled off his socks. Lizard DNA made for good climbing too. So... to shot his way out, or take the evasive route? Otto made the choice for him. A tranquilliser dart hit him right in the jugular, just under his head. "Good shot," Ice said, as the rifle hit the floor, followed by his head.  
  
"Get him cuffed. And put something on his feet," Ames ordered.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Normal was *not* a happy bunny. He wasn't even a bunny, so he couldn't have been a happy one even if he wasn't being dragged through the sewers by people who wouldn't tell him what was happening. Or why they had torches ready in the sewer entrance. Or why they were using the sewers anyway. Every time he went to say something, Dynamite caught his eye with a shut up glare. Plus, she and the others kept swapping hand signals. He put on a glare, and caught Cain's eye, then signed, in standard sign language, what Ice had said. Cain nodded, then stopped the group. They gathered in a circle. Cain signed again. --Romeo and Delta split. Max with Delta, Alec with Romeo. Sketchy and Normal with Romeo. Herbal and OC with Delta. Logan with Romeo.--  
  
Abel beckoned Sketchy, Normal and Logan to his side. Alec was already joined at the mouth to Fred. Max gave Logan an apologetic smile, and beckoned to OC and Herbal. When the two groups were on opposite sides of the sewer, Cain continued for Mack's benefit --20 more minutes of silence, then up into the open. RVP 6.-- Mack nodded, and led Delta squad away. Cain looked at Normal and signed, so that Normal would understand, --We'll fill you in when we get up top. Till then keep quiet.-- Abel effectively got Sketchy to do the same by ramming a glove into his mouth, while Logan just followed the transgenics' leads.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Ice regained consciousness in a reasonably large cell. He was hanging from the ceiling, about a foot off the ground, and had obviously been there some time because his arms were killing. He ignored the pain and pulled himself up on the chains so he could look at his watch. It had ben two hours since he'd given Normal the message, to the second. As he lowered himself towards the floor again, he figured he'd been hanging around here for an hour and a half. Which meant, feasibly, that he could be anywhere within a twenty mile radius of the X1 shack. That meant he could be up to fourty-eight miles from RVP 6, which was twenty-eight miles exactly from said shack. Still, that tranquilliser had left him more refreshed than the NSA could have wanted.  
  
The X1 looked around the room. To call it Spartan would be kind. It was bare. Other than the thick iron chain holding Ice above the floor, and the chair in the corner, there was nothing in it. No window, so any escape would mean getting past NSA trained guards. Running the gauntlet again. It reminded him of his first trainig session, only his arms were really killing him now. He shut out the pain so well that a Familiar would have trouble beating him in a stamina test, and pulled himself up again. This time, he bent at the waist so his legs were at a right angle, then allowed himself to fall backwards until his feet wedged against the ceiling, taking a little weight off his agonised arms.  
  
That was how he was when Ames White and Otto walked in. Ames looked at the freak with disgust. "Amateur gymnast, are you, 294?" The Familiar was holding a cattle prod. Otto, on the other hand, was weaponless. Obviously had more faith in White than White had in him. Ice dropped down again.  
  
"My name is Ice. I'm sure that's in my files," he told White, before looking at Otto. "You shot me," he said accusingly. Otto backed away, and Ice smiled. "Well done. I think you're only the second person to hit me. The first being Colonel Lydecker. Good shot, he was."  
  
Ames felt the interrogation slipping away from him, and slammed the cattle prod, fully charged, into the small of Ice's back. Once he'd finished convulsing and swearing, Ice clenched his right fist hard. "Got any warm milk?" he asked. "Or my pill bottle?" His entire right arm was shaking now, the sign of a bad set of convulsions to come, In Ice's case. Ames nodded to Otto, who left the room.  
  
"You get the seizures then?" Ames asked. "That wasn't on your record."  
  
Ice raised an eyebrow. "That goes on a Manticore file, it's the last thing to do so. Can't have soldiers spazzing out mid-mission."   
  
"Why tell me that? Why talk to me at all? I know you're keeping others safe. There should have been eleven of you there." Ames' initial interrogation technique failed to impress Ice, whose entire body was starting to tremor again. White pressed a button by the door, releasing Ice from the chains. Hopeless with tremors as he was, Ice was unable to resist the NSA Agent as he was dragged over to the chair, and tied to it, his hands cuffed behind his back.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
Logan looked at Cain. "You're lost, aren't you?" he asked. Having hotwired a couple of cars, they were in the middle of the forest near the remains of Manticore, Wyoming, so Cain just glared. Abel smiled. "We have two hours to kill," he informed the Ordinaries. Normal objected. "We have one hour," he claimed.  
  
"We're Romeo squad. Delta squad will take first watch, starting in one hour. We'll take second watch," Danni informed Normal. Alec looked up. "What's the deal with the squads?" he asked, trying to sound like he wasn't a transgenic.  
  
Toni cottoned on quickly. "The ten of us were raised in a military orphanage. We were split into groups by age, and there were strict no speaking rules, so we learnt the sign language you saw in the sewers. All the other army style stuff, well Ice taught us it when we first met, last year. He's been in the army, as you know, Alec. He is your cousin after all."  
  
Alec nodded. Boy these lot are good he thought to himself.   
  
Sketchy looked at Toni. "So you're the older ones?" he asked.  
  
"No," Fred put in, "we're the younger ones. Cain over-ruled Mack, because Ice told him to."  
  
"I don't remember hearing that," Logan remarked.  
  
"You wouldn't have done. It was signed." Cain looked at Logan, then at Normal. "I was given the orders by way of Normal; if Ice wanted Mack running the show then we'd be on first watch."  
  
Logan and Alec were playing dumb very well, but Sketchy wasn't acting. He was just dumb. The act they put on for Normal's benefit was going well. Until Normal asked the question they'd been dreading.  
  
"So why was Ice so sure you were in danger?" he asked  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Are they gonna shoot themselves in the foot? Is Ice gonna escape from White? Are these questions even necessary? I don't know, I just write this stuff. Stay tuned for chapter 5. 


	6. Pathogens

DISCLAIMER: As on other pages: Non-commercial, entertainment only, no copyright infringement intended, plagiarism-is-the-highest-form-of-flattery etc etc  
  
A/N: thoughts "speech" --signals--  
  
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The six transgenics, five X1s, one X5, looked around at each other. Alec shouldn't have done, but if pressed he would have claimed he got caught between Fred and the others. There was a moment of dangerous silence before Abel grinned.  
  
"We get mistaken for transgenics a lot," he supplied. "We have such a militarised style that people get confused and report us. Ice has amazing hearing, so he could tell if we were in trouble. It comes from his time in the army."  
  
Logan raised an eyebrow, and exchanged a glance with Alec. The two could tell that they were each thinking the same thing: That was a different idea. Abel was a quick thinker. When Alec signalled this to him later, he grinned, and signalled back --Yeah, I'm a sergeant-- as if that explained everything. Luckily, Normal missed that, as Toni offered him a stick of gum. Sketchy started to shiver, so Cain pulled off hid hooded jacket and threw it at the Ordinary. "No fires," he said. "Get caught that way."  
  
Danni rolled her eyes. "Cain, there is nobody after us. Ice will have dealt with any trouble."  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Ice was still racked with the tremors. The chair shook. Ames considered knocking him out again, but dismissed the idea. He needed 'Ice' conscious. The door swung open, and Otto entered with warmed up milk in a baby bottle *and* the pill bottle. Ames glared as Otto, who shrugged. "I figured we weren't gonna let him use his hands, and Agent Fields was in with her little boy Aidan, so I borrowed a bottle from her."  
  
Ames shook his head and grabbed the bottle of pills, while Otto held the bottle of milk to Ice's mouth. Ice tried to drink without choking, and had some success, until Ames rammed two tryptophan pills down his throat. Then his tremors were interspersed with him choking. For a full ten minutes, the tremors continued. As they started to settle, Ice looked at Otto. "Thank you," he muttered hoarsely. White nudged him with his foot. The transgenic looked at White.  
  
"I want answers, 294," Ames said.  
  
"You want answers, Junior? Go fall off a log." Back to full normality, there was no way Ice was going to tell White anything. White hit Ice with another convulsive jolt from the cattle prod.  
  
"I can be civil, 294, or I can be uncivil. All I want to do is talk."  
  
Ice shook his head. "Get bent," he suggested. Ames hit him on the jaw and stalked out of the room, followed by Otto. Ice heard the key turn in the lock.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
Delta squad had made good time, and were at RVP 6 a full ten minutes early. Data smiled as she realised this, then boosted herself into a tree, to keep watch. Herbal looked at the group. "This is not good, yes?" Original Cindy looked at Herbal. "Boo, it's all good. All the time. Right?" She looked around at Mack, Slim, and Dynamite. Finn was talking to Max about some scientific recombinant DNA, or whatever it was called. OC saw a flicker of doubt in Slim's eyes. "Right?!" she repeated.  
  
Slim shrugged. "I'd have expected Ice to be here by now if he was quick in getting rid of them," he offered. "But it's nothing to worry about yet."  
  
"You sure, boo?"  
  
"I'm sure. Ice has this annoying habit of surviving everything people throw at him."  
  
"You've known him for a long time?" OC asked.  
  
"No," was all Slim answered, before walking off to a tree opposite Data's and pulling himself up into it.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Ice looked at the door as White walked in, alone. The Familiar was carrying a box under one arm, and a red hot branding iron in the other. Ice did not like the look of the situation at all.  
  
Ames, on the other hand, was back in a good mood. He opened the box, revealing a huge snake and a goblet. Cutting the snake, he let some blood drop into the the goblet. Then he dipped the brand into the blood, placing the snake back in its box. He advanced on Ice, branding iron in one hand. With his free hand, he pushed the transgenic's head forward. Then he placed the red hot branding iron on the back of Ice's neck. The scream he was waiting for never came. Ice was close to blacking out. He didn't have the energy to scream if he was going to stay conscious.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Romeo squad headed towards RVP 6. They stopped, and Cain let out a bird-like whistle. One of the Delta squad replied, and Cain led Romeo squad into the clearing.   
  
"No sign of Ice yet?" Abel asked Dynamite.  
  
"No, none." Dynamite took Abel to one side, where Normal couldn't see. "I'm getting worried about him. Mack is too. He keeps pacing from side to side. I think the Ordinaries are starting to figure it out too."  
  
"He'll be fine. He's Ice."  
  
Dynamite gave Abel a glare. "Little brother, you are a pain in the ass."  
  
"Never claimed not to be."  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Ames left Ice in a delirious state, with only Otto to watch over him. His handcuffs had been removed, his feet untied. The X1 lay on the cold stone floor, fever burning through him. He was aware that the door was not locked. Stupid, that he thought to himself. Really stupid. Must have been Otto's doing  
  
Even in his feverish state, Ice credited NSA Agent Ames White, whom he'd once seen as a child, when he was still a Sandemann, with more intelligence than to leave a cell door unlocked, even if the occupant was delirious. Otto, on the other hand, was never gonna get promoted past his current level.  
  
Ice pulled himself to his feet unsteadily, and headed for the door. He paused a moment to sort out a make shift bandage from his shirt sleeve, which he held to the back of his neck. The wound had been formed cauterised, the burning brand making sure nothing but the snake's blood infected it. The action was causing the pathogens to spread as his heart beat faster, but it also sent his natural blood around faster too. His natural blood which contained snake DNA...  
  
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heh, that's the end of chapter 5. I know Vil, I know, it needed more Ames *rolls eyes* 


	7. Escape

DISCLAIMER: Plagiarism is the highest form of flattery. I am not making money from this fic, nor do I own the ideas behind, or the original characters of, Dark Angel. Please do not sue me. The eleven X-1s, however, are still mine. Especially Ice, 'cos he rocks.  
  
A/N: thoughts, --signal-- "speech"  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Ice grew steadier on his feet, as his natural blood took over that which contained the pathogens. His fever dropped radically, and by the time he got the door open he was back to his usual ass kicking self. His neck still throbbed, and if anyone had the chance or sense to hit him there then he'd be back under lock and key quicker than you could say transgenic. Still, he had the element of surprise, as Otto found out when he was grabbed from behind and gagged with a hand over his mouth, the other hand placed where it could lead to death if Otto made the wrong move.  
  
"You're gonna lead me to the exit. You won't know where I am, but I assure you, it will be close enough to kill you if you sound the alarm before I leave. You will see me leave the building. Lock the door to my cell, and move."  
  
The hands were removed, and when Otto turned to lock the door, he had to double check that it was empty. Ice had climbed up the wall, and was matching mind games with gravity, in an attempt to see who would crack first. The odds were against Ice, who was stretched across the ceiling, stomch down, his feet on one side, his hands wedging him into place on the other. Still a lot weaker than he was willing to admit to himself, Ice followed Otto carefully. He knew the NSA Agent couldn't raise the alarm with a look, or a signal, because he didn't know where his transgenic stalker was.  
  
When he reached the exit, Ice dropped down behind Otto, and whispered "People look, but don't see. The trick is to help them not to see."  
  
The transgenic walked out of the door, bursting into a run as the alarm sounded behind him.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Ames White looked at Otto with undisguised disgust. "You led a weakened transgenic to freedom? What kind of idiot are you?"  
  
Otto kept his mouth shut.  
  
First sensible thing he's done all day Ames thought to himself. Out loud, he called out orders. "I want him found. And terminated, preferably with extreme prejudice. Anyone and everyone with him goes the same way."  
  
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Ice knew his lead on the agents was miniscule. His strength was ebbing, the initial power of his pathogen fighting blood wearing off fast. He couldn't drive in this condition, so he had to run. He loped along, headed in the right direction for RVP 6, some innate sense driving him in that direction. He'd lost his watch, his weapons and his strength, but he still had his wits about him. His wolf attributed stamina was keeping him going, the speed from his cheetah DNA being leeched away. But Ice was as stubborn as they come. He wasn't going to let those idiots catch him again.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Ames White, some composure regained, was heading up the Agents following Ice. Otto, who appeared to be having trouble breathing ((A broken rib. Ice's fault, Ames claimed. He wasn't lying)), followed behind, a gun in his hand. A proper gun, not one loaded with tranquillisers.  
  
"He's on foot, dammit!" White called out. "How hard can it be to track him?"  
  
Ice, in a tree about a hundred yards from where the Agents stood, allowed himself a grin, before lapsing, silently, in unconsciousness.  
  
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At the RVP, Data and Slim had switched watches with Danni and Toni. The look in the eyes of Cain and Abel said it all. They were worried. The Ordinaries had been boosted into trees as well, and the twins and their opposite numbers from Delta squad were the only ones still on the ground. Masked in the shadows, they all ducked simultaneously, removing themselves from the sightlines of the Agents who ran into the clearing. The Agents were surrounded, but didn't know it. Within five seconds they were all out for the count, invisible fighters taking them out before they could raise the alarm. The look Mack gave Cain hardly needed the accompanying signal: --Ice is in trouble--. Cain nodded, and replied --Shame he can block himself from Psis. Guess we'll have to follow our noses. And the tracks these incompetants left-- ((A/N: Ames and Otto were not in this group of Agents.))  
  
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END OF CHAPTER 


	8. Twist in the tale

DISCLAIMER: Plagiarism is the highest form of flattery. I am not making money from this fic, nor do I own the ideas behind, or the original characters of, Dark Angel. Please do not sue me. The eleven X-1s, however, are still mine. Especially Ice, 'cos he rocks.  
  
A/N: thoughts, --signal-- "speech"  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Ice had lost track of time. He looked at his watch as he regained consciousness, and nearly started. Until he realised that he was in a tree, and that White and Otto were still directly underneath him. He was, now, fully transgenic again, not some weakened delirious transgenic who didn't stand a chance in Hell.  
  
He let himself down from the tree, and hid in the undergrowth, his eyes on the two NSA agents. His left hand quested for a stone or something like it. He smiled wolfishly as he found one, then carefully moved so he could aim without being seen.   
  
The stone hit Otto square on the temple, knocking him out. Ames span, to see Ice, fully recovered, stand up in the bushes.   
  
"You!" Ames hissed.  
  
"Me," Ice agreed, running at Ames and kicking the gun out of his hand. "No tranquilliser guns to get you outta this, Master Sandemann."  
  
White growled gutterally, and tried to hit Ice. "My name is Ames White!" he exclaimed, but his brain started ticking over. How does he know that my father was his creator? It isn't common knowledge, not even amongst the Conclave  
  
"Whatever you say," Ice replied, ducking under the shot. "You used to like me, y'know. We met once, when I was about a year old. Just learning to walk. I still had my bar code then. You father took me out of Manticore so he could monitor me, I was a prodigy. 1995, it was. Remember?"  
  
Ames did.  
  
----FLASHBACK----  
  
The boy known as Ames Sandemann looked out of the window as his father's car pulled up. He was seven years old, and had passed the test some months earlier. He still lived with his father, and his younger brother CJ. That was wrong. CJ shouldn't have been born. If they were twins then yeah, Ames could have understood that. But his mother should have died when he was weaned. Not lived long enough to produce CJ.  
  
He frowned as he saw his father help a boy out of the car. The boy couldn't have been more than sixteen months old, but he was walking better than CJ could. The boy's eyes were nervous, his bottom lip curled under his baby teeth. He held Ames' dad's hand as if it were the only thing he could concieve of.  
  
"Ames, CJ, I'd like you to meet Alexander Rider," Ames' dad said. Alexander looked at Ames and CJ, and hunched his shoulders, making himself look smaller. Ames looked at the toddler with disgust.  
  
Another charity case he thought to himself.  
  
"Ames, I'd like you to keep an eye on Alex."  
  
"Yes, father," Ames agreed.   
  
------------------  
  
Ames snarled "Alexander Rider."  
  
Ice grinned. "I was, yes. When I was just a thief. When I started losing my baby teeth I became Ice."  
  
Ames hit out at Ice again. Ice dodged again.  
  
"You taught me how to fight, Ames. Not physically, but mentally. I watched you like an eagle. How you acted with Sandemann, how you were with CJ behind his back. Nice to know, huh?"  
  
Ames' next move, a kick, connected with the back of Ice's knee, forcing him to the floor. Ames grabbed Otto's gun, and pointed it at Ice. Who pointed Ames' own gun right back at him.  
  
"Mexican stand-off, bro," Ice said with a wink.  
  
"I'm not your brother!" Ames said.  
  
"True," Ice agreed. "No brother of mine would try to shoot me with a gun that has the safety catch still on. Other than that? I have some of your DNA in me, Ames. Some you, some Deck. More Deck than you, but still..."  
  
Ice let the sentence hang, just to annoy Ames. Ames kicked Otto's inert body, gun still on Ice. Otto groaned.  
  
"So what ya gonna do, White?" 


	9. X0378

DISCLAIMER: Don't own DA, just the X1s. Will, X0-378, is the property of Western Blakehawke, whose stuff is definitely worth a read. Will is used with Blake's permission, but may not be written properly. In which case I give her permission to beat Ice up in her own fics.  
  
PLEASE please please, please, please RnR  
  
A/N: thoughts, "speech", --signals--  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
Mentor and mentee were still pointing guns at each other when a petite women, about four foot ten inches tall, walked into the clearing. Both men pointed the gun at her, then twisted again to point guns at each other.  
  
"Don't you dare shoot Will!" they claimed simultaneously, followed, again simultaneously, by a "Why the hell would I want to shoot Will?"  
  
The two of them stopped a moment, glaring at each other.  
  
"Cute glares," Will offered. Ice and Ames shared a look, and tucked their guns away; Ames into its holster, Ice into the back of his waist band.  
  
"Hey Ames, Ice," Will greeted the two. Ames frowned.  
  
"You two know each other?" he asked.  
  
"Obviously," Ice replied. "Will was the prototype for the X1 design. The X1s were prototypes for X2s. Which is why the X2s turned out to be a bunch of anomalies"  
  
Ames sighed. Why me?! he thought. Will I can deal with, she's pretty much Conclave in any case. But to have mentored a transgenic without knowing it? "I should have informed the Conclave the moment I saw my father bring you home, Rider."  
  
Ice grinned. "But you didn't have it in you to ruin the life of a child. Not then. Well, other than CJ's. Sandemann knew that. It's why he risked it. I told him it had a 72% chance of working."  
  
"You're a tactical?" Ames said, the fact that Ice had been only 16 months old when they'd first met slipping his mind. "I thought they were made not to be noticed?"  
  
"They were," Will supplied. "The ones who were specifically created for it. X4's on the whole, tended to be the best of them. Ice was just precocious."  
  
"Thanks, sis, didn't know you cared," Ice muttered.   
  
Just then, ten more X1s, two x5s, and five very tired looking humans surrounded the three talkers, and otto, who was regaining consciousness.   
  
"What... the hell... is going on..." Normal finally managed to blurt out between laboured breaths.  
  
Logan looked at White. "Oh. It's you. not very good, are you? At keeping hold of transgenics?"  
  
Ames glared again, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at Logan. Otto's gun, now in Max's hand, touched Ames' temple. "You do *not* point a gun at my boyfriend!" she told him.  
  
Logan looked at Max in surprise. "I thought you were going with Alec?"  
  
"You think he'd be necking Fred if I were going with him?" Max asked Logan. "We need to talk. I was having a chat with Finn."  
  
Ames suddenly shouted. "Will everyone just shut up!"   
  
He'd lost control of the situation. If he was going to be honest, he'd lost control of ot the situation as soon as Ice had gone into the shakes. Everyone shut up. As 50 or so trained agents pointed laser-guided rifles at the heads and chests of everyone other than Ames, and Otto.   
  
---------- END OF CHAPTER --------- 


	10. Return of the Prodigal Father

DISCLAIMER: Don't own DA, just the X1s. Will, X0-378, is the property of Western Blakehawke, whose stuff is definitely worth a read. Will is used with Blake's permission, but may not be written properly. In which case I give her permission to beat Ice up in her own fics.  
  
PLEASE please please, please, please RnR  
  
A/N: thoughts, "speech", --signals--  
  
-------------------  
  
"Hold your fire, and back to base. I'll handle this!" Ames ordered, in a tone which showed he meant business. Finn saw the back of Ice's neck.  
  
"Shit, bro," he commented, moving towards Ice as the laser between his eyes was dropped. "I'll sort that out for you."  
  
Max lowered the gun she had at Ames' head, but didn't thumb the safety on. She still didn't trust White, but if he was going to call his team off, albeit temporarily, she should offer him a little hostile hospitality. Alec and Fred went back to necking. Otto looked around confused, until Slim walked up and sorted out the cut to his head.  
  
"We're transgenics, White. I'm part Deck, part you, part fuck-knows-what-else." Ice swore calmly as Finn put a proper dressing on the back of his neck. Normal looked up.   
  
"Freaks! you're all freaks!"  
  
"SHUT UP NORMAL!" came eighteen voices.  
  
"I'm not a freak!" Otto intoned, walking over to where Normal stood. "Fancy a drink?"  
  
Ames glared at Otto. "You're on duty, Agent!" he barked. "And we're..."  
  
"Twenty miles from the nearest off licence," Mack offered.  
  
"Yeah, what he said," Data agreed.   
  
Ames glared at them. "Thank you," he replied, his voice like the grave. He hated working alongside transgenics, but for Will's sake and Ray's, and, he supposed for Ice's, since he'd quite liked the toddler his father had brought home, he'd let them go. Even, to his eternal self-disgust, 494 and 452. Goddess save him.  
  
"Well, I think you owe me an explanation," Normal said, "or you cam kiss your sector passes goodbye. All of you. Golden boy excluded."   
  
"Shut up, you idiot," Ames snarled. "You think I like this situatiion any more than you do?"  
  
Normal opened his mouth to retort, but Ames glared at him. And that shuts me up Normal thought to himself.  
  
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They'd made it back to the X1's place. Normal had been taken to a bar by Otto, and the pair had gotten so drunk they were now crashed out on the couch. Hopefully, they'd remember nothing at all in the morning. The other Ordinaries had called it a night and gone home. Ames was sat between Ice and Will. Alec and Fred had gone upstairs, while Finn was looking at a sample of Max's blood under a microscope, Max and Logan gazing lovestruck at each other across a firelit hearth. ames and Ice both glared at Dynamite when she commented on their resemblance. There was a knock at the door, and Data answered it. Stood there, badly injured and looking very tired, was Colonel Donald Lydecker.  
  
Ice stood immediately, and blurred to the door just in time to catch the man who was truly his father. The human was exhausted, but still managed to say "Too easy to find, soldier," before lapsing into unconsciousness. ice carried him over to the third couch, while Toni went to find a spare cover for the Colonel. White looked surprised that Deck was still held in esteem by these transgenics, with their freedom and a leader of their own kind. Danni saw the look in Ames' eye and shrugged. "He taught Ice well enough that he could escape you. Without Ice, we'd be nothing. you'd have killed us months ago."  
  
Ames looked shocked at the compliment. Danni smiled again. "Fancy a beer?"  
  
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"EUREKA!"   
  
Finn's cry woke up Otto and Normal, who both sat up, groaned, and laid back down again. Max looked at Finn, the hope in her eyes heart breaking. Finn nodded, tapping the syringe in his hand. "No touching for another twenty four hours," he warned, as he injected both Max and Logan with the antidote-vaccine he'd come up with. Then I'll test your blood again, Max. If it's clear, then it's a laster. You'll be free to get busy."  
  
Max and Logan gave Finn a look. Finn shrugged, grinning, as Toni and Data came in from the kitchen with glasses of water for Otto and Normal. Ice had moved Deck to his room, and was keeping a bedside vigil with his father. Deck's mark on Ice was most obvious, in the younger man's eyes and in his face. The others left him to his watch. will, just as worried about Deck as Ice was, had gone to get Ray. She'd be returning with the boy in a couple of hours.  
  
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END CHAPTER NINE  
  
heh, cover all corners, methinks... 


	11. There may be trouble ahead

DISCLAIMER: Don't own DA, just the X1s. Will, X0-378, is the property of Western Blakehawke, whose stuff is definitely worth a read. Will is used with Blake's permission, but may not be written properly. In which case I give her permission to beat Ice up in her own fics.  
  
PLEASE please please, please, please RnR  
  
A/N: thoughts, "speech", --signals--  
  
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Colonel Donald Lydecker awoke with a start. He groaned, and looked around to ascertain his location. his eyes landed on Ice, who was just looking at him blankly. "Where am I?" he asked the youth.  
  
"Safe," Ice answered. "Finn says you've got a couple of broken ribs, and there's a lump the size of a goose egg on your left temple. finn shot you full of pain killers before he left for work this morning. I bagged the day off by proving to my boss that my dad actually was ill."  
  
"You got a job?" Lydecker managed to pull himself into a seated position on Ice's bed. "What did you do to your neck?" he said, concerned. all the transgenics were seen to him as his kids, but Ice had to be the most obvious of them. Genetically, anyway. In terms of relationships, Will was his only true child.  
  
"I got on the wrong end of one of Sandemann's old crew," Ice said, with a shrug. "I'm fine though. You put some snake in me. Well, Manticore did."  
  
Deck nodded. There was a knock at the door, and an energetic six year old ran into the room, followed closely by Will. Deck's face broke into a rare grin for his 'daughter', which was wiped off his face when the boy bear hugged him around his broken ribs.  
  
"Ray!" Ice admonished. "Your step-grandfather has broken ribs, and his pain relief is on a downer."  
  
The boy stopped hugging Deck, and looked at Ice, then at his grandfather, before running back to Will. "Mum! Granddad Deck's got broken ribs!" he told the transgenic, as if she'd not heard Ice. Will grinned.  
  
"Mum? GRANDDAD?!" Deck looked shocked. "What the hell?!"  
  
"Mum, Granddad's acting like Dad," Ray said. Will looked at Ray, then at Ice. She moved over to the bed, and sat down. "Long story. Ray is White's son. He was in his aunt's care when she died. Eyes Only got me to adopt Ray, so he'd be safe."  
  
"You took White's son? Does he know this?" Deck asked, concerned for Will's safety.  
  
"He knows," Ice spoke up. "It saved you last night. White cares for Will, and for Ray. Hell, he puts up with Alec to keep them happy."  
  
"Alec?"  
  
"494. I think he's still necking with Fred." Ray offered. Will glared at Ice, who put his hands up in not guilty mode.  
  
"Wasn't me," he claimed.  
  
"Who's Fred?" Deck asked.  
  
"X1-191, one of the natural triplets," Will supplied.  
  
"Why'd she call herself Fred?"  
  
"Short for Winifred. Her sisters are Danni and Toni," Slim said from the doorway.  
  
"Danni short for Danielle, and Toni short for Antonia. smart girls. Anyone hearing the names would automatically think they were looking for guys." Deck approved.  
  
"RIDER!" Ice winced as Ames yelled up the stairs. "We got company!"  
  
"I thought he'd gone out?" Ice said, looking at Slim.   
  
"He's back," Slim countered.  
  
"Will, you Ray and Slim stay here with Deck. Dad, there's a beretta under the third pillow. Just in case." Ice ran out of the room, grabbed his rifle from besides is door as he did so, and slid down the bannister.  
  
"Was that White? Who's Rider? What the hell is going on?!"  
  
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Good question, Deck. Find out next time... 


End file.
